He'll do that especially when he loves or finds a game entertaining, that's something I think a lot of folks may be missing here. Because, and I can't remember which video he specifically mentioned it in (might've been an Extra Punctuation article), flaws become all the more glaring and makes one wonder how those flaws got past the developers and QA in an otherwise good product. I have to agree with a lot of people here with the feeling Yahtzee will bottom line it as "good game, not getting out of here without a thumbs-up, but doesn't live up to its predecessor".Snotnarok said:
My opinion: SRTT is a fantastic game and I enjoyed every second of the single player*, and on its own it's a wonderful game. Though, I do have to echo a lot of the sentiment that it doesn't have quite the same magic as SR2 from the nonlinear approach to taking out gangs**, quite the ability to customize a character (at least as far as fashion and more extreme body type and appearance is concerned), and that perfect mix of dark and whacky comedy in the middle of an otherwise extremely grim game. The game's not without some flaws that are made very glaring in light of it being an otherwise great product, the hype surrounding the game, and having some very large shoes to fill by being the successor to SR2.
Now, the one thing I fully expect Yahtzee to rail full-on about is the DLC onslaught for the game, and I will fault him not in the least for it. Considering the game's overall quality, but having those flaws (particularly the first flaw I pointed out specifically, which bleeds over a great deal into the second) using it as a DLC vehicle is something of a slap in the face to the players.
*
Except for the fact about a third of the campaign's missions are introductory levels to diversions and tutorials. That irked me, especially in the light the campaign itself is already extremely short but sweet, with the last act losing a lot of cohesion. It honestly felt like Volition had a great deal more planned for the game's third act but was forced to cut content to make deadlines, keeping a handful of missions necessary to build a minimally cohesive storyline and conclusion.
**
Thematically, it makes sense. In SR1 is the three gangs were at war with each other...that's what caused the game's plot to begin with. Yet, once the game got started the war between those three took a back seat to the Saints taking them on and out one by one.
In SR2, the sense you get is the three gangs didn't make the mistake their predecessors did -- if they had conflicts with one another, that ended when the Saints showed back up. Or Ultor was playing them against each other to keep the balance of power. Or maybe they just found their own balance. However it worked out, there was a balance of power the Saints disrupted, and while the gangs didn't interact with one another they weren't exactly going out of their way to help rival gangs. You'll note in game mechanics, gang notoriety didn't transfer from one gang's turf -- or one gang -- to another.
In SR3, the gangs are a part of a larger group, actively work together to further their own interests and synergize with each other. There's no balance of power, since each gang has their own niche and turf, and integrated with the others. It's actually kind of fallacious to even say there are three gangs in Steelport -- there's one gang with different "divisions" so to speak. You'll note in game mechanics, there is no gang notoriety, just Syndicate notoriety, and that transfers between turfs and gangs; piss off the Deckers, and you just leap into the fire from the frying pan by trying to escape into Luchadore turf.
Thematically and storyline-wise, that integrates with gameplay in SR1/2 by having individual storylines that develop each gang, and the escalating conflict with each gang, until the climax in which you take out the leader. In SR3 -- and spoilers ahead, so consider yourself forewarned -- you're not really up against three disparate gangs, you're against the Syndicate and you take out its leader early on. The escalation from there is what triggers the later story developments.
It wouldn't have made a whole lot of sense to have the "three different storylines" structure in that regard, since the three gangs aren't separate. Sure, you could make a good argument in favor of that structure by saying "Loren gets killed early on, and the boss plays divide and conquer in the power vacuum". Except, the power vacuum gets filled immediately by Killbane, since neither Viola nor Miller are willing to challenge him; Kiki was the only one, and you see what happens to her. Either way, given what I mentioned earlier -- you're not up against three different gangs, you're up against the Syndicate -- that really leaves what the game does, which is poke around for weaknesses and make attacks of opportunity in the lack of the Boss's ability to wage all-out gang warfare. By the time the Syndicate is fractured enough to move into the "three different gang" thing thematically, STAG shows up.
That's why, in my opinion, SR3 is much more "linear" than its predecessor. It just wouldn't make much sense, thematically. That doesn't absolve a third of the game's missions being tutorials and introductory activity levels, Syndicate missions being just as numerous as a single gang in SR1/2 alone, roughly ten STAG missions and a handful of more or less vanity/novelty missions. Really fleshing out the conflict with the Syndicate to SR2 levels of story development would have required at least 30 missions on its own, and the STAG arc would require another twenty, at least in my opinion. But, that's pushing it given the thematic elements I mentioned earlier.
In SR2, the sense you get is the three gangs didn't make the mistake their predecessors did -- if they had conflicts with one another, that ended when the Saints showed back up. Or Ultor was playing them against each other to keep the balance of power. Or maybe they just found their own balance. However it worked out, there was a balance of power the Saints disrupted, and while the gangs didn't interact with one another they weren't exactly going out of their way to help rival gangs. You'll note in game mechanics, gang notoriety didn't transfer from one gang's turf -- or one gang -- to another.
In SR3, the gangs are a part of a larger group, actively work together to further their own interests and synergize with each other. There's no balance of power, since each gang has their own niche and turf, and integrated with the others. It's actually kind of fallacious to even say there are three gangs in Steelport -- there's one gang with different "divisions" so to speak. You'll note in game mechanics, there is no gang notoriety, just Syndicate notoriety, and that transfers between turfs and gangs; piss off the Deckers, and you just leap into the fire from the frying pan by trying to escape into Luchadore turf.
Thematically and storyline-wise, that integrates with gameplay in SR1/2 by having individual storylines that develop each gang, and the escalating conflict with each gang, until the climax in which you take out the leader. In SR3 -- and spoilers ahead, so consider yourself forewarned -- you're not really up against three disparate gangs, you're against the Syndicate and you take out its leader early on. The escalation from there is what triggers the later story developments.
It wouldn't have made a whole lot of sense to have the "three different storylines" structure in that regard, since the three gangs aren't separate. Sure, you could make a good argument in favor of that structure by saying "Loren gets killed early on, and the boss plays divide and conquer in the power vacuum". Except, the power vacuum gets filled immediately by Killbane, since neither Viola nor Miller are willing to challenge him; Kiki was the only one, and you see what happens to her. Either way, given what I mentioned earlier -- you're not up against three different gangs, you're up against the Syndicate -- that really leaves what the game does, which is poke around for weaknesses and make attacks of opportunity in the lack of the Boss's ability to wage all-out gang warfare. By the time the Syndicate is fractured enough to move into the "three different gang" thing thematically, STAG shows up.
That's why, in my opinion, SR3 is much more "linear" than its predecessor. It just wouldn't make much sense, thematically. That doesn't absolve a third of the game's missions being tutorials and introductory activity levels, Syndicate missions being just as numerous as a single gang in SR1/2 alone, roughly ten STAG missions and a handful of more or less vanity/novelty missions. Really fleshing out the conflict with the Syndicate to SR2 levels of story development would have required at least 30 missions on its own, and the STAG arc would require another twenty, at least in my opinion. But, that's pushing it given the thematic elements I mentioned earlier.
